Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Jeremiah
Book: Jeremiah
Chapter: 13
Overview:
The
Glory of the Jews should be marred.
(1-11) All ranks
should suffer misery, An
Earnest exhortation to
Repentance.
(12-17) An awful message to
Jerusalem and its
King.
(18-27)
1-11 It was usual with the prophets to teach
By signs. And we
have the explanation, ver. 9-11. The people of
Israel had been
to
God as this
Girdle. He caused them to cleave to him
By the
Law he gave them, the prophets he sent among them, and the
favours he showed them. They had
By their idolatries and sins
buried themselves in foreign
Earth, mingled among the nations,
and were
So corrupted that they were good for nothing. If we are
proud of learning, power, and outward privileges, it is just
with
God to wither them. The minds of men should be awakened to
a sense of their guilt and danger; yet nothing will be effectual
without the influences of the
Spirit.
12-17 As the
Bottle was fitted to
Hold the
Wine,
So the sins of
the people made them vessels of wrath, fitted for the judgments
of
God; with which they should be filled till they caused each
other's
Destruction. The
Prophet exhorts them to give
Glory to
God,
By confessing their sins, humbling themselves in
Repentance, and returning to his service. Otherwise they would
be carried into other countries in all the
Darkness of
Idolatry
and wickedness. All misery, witnessed or foreseen, will affect a
feeling mind, but the pious
Heart must
Mourn most over the
Afflictions of the
Lord's flock.
18-27 Here is a message sent to
King Jehoiakim, and his
Queen.
Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come
these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy
in
Sin. We cannot alter the natural
Colour of the
Skin; and
So
is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people.
Sin
is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we
were shapen in it,
So that we cannot get clear of it
By any
power of our own. But Almighty
Grace is able to change the
Ethiopian's
Skin. Neither natural depravity, nor strong habits
of
Sin, form an obstacle to the working of
God, the new-creating
Spirit. The
Lord asks of
Jerusalem, whether she is determined
not be made
Clean. If any
Poor Slave of
Sin feels that he could
as soon change his nature as master his headstrong lusts, let
him not despair; for things impossible to men are possible with
God. Let us then seek help from Him who is mighty to save.